Another Surprise By Sixers Eric Snow Scored 18 Points And Todd Macculloch Added 16 To Lead The Way In An Upset In Milwaukee.

By Stephen A. Smith, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: November 28, 1999

MILWAUKEE — When you're barely a month into the season and a victory is labeled "big," that usually means there have been problems. Last night, the injury-plagued 76ers found a way to alleviate their problems.

Sparked by a sensational fourth-quarter effort by point guard Eric Snow, along with another impressive showing by rookie center Todd MacCulloch, the Sixers went on a pivotal 7-0 run in the final quarter, then used their defense to pull out an 82-79 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in front of 15,216 at the Bradley Center.

The victory was the Sixers' second in a row and continued a trend that's eight years old: beating the Bucks at least once a season on their own court.

Snow scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, dishing out four assists, recording three steals, and icing the game on a driving layup with just 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining.

MacCulloch, benched for the final 12 minutes, still dominated inside for the first three quarters, contributing 16 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

Tyrone Hill, returning to Milwaukee for the first time since he was sent to Philadelphia in the Tim Thomas trade, grabbed 14 rebounds. And both Billy Owens and Larry Hughes were solid off the bench, combining for 24 points.

On defense, the Sixers resembled termites on wood, chewing away at the Bucks' prolific offense and forcing them into 36.5 percent (31-for-85) shooting. Milwaukee was limited to a measly 11 fourth-quarter points.

Coach Larry Brown put it succinctly after the game:

"We were a team," Brown said, flush with admiration. "I looked inside that locker room and I can't find one person that didn't contribute."

Brown also gave his team the day off today, which should say it all.

Hill shot 3 for 6 from the field, finishing with eight points, but still managed to stymie both of Milwaukee's frontline players. Robert "Tractor" Traylor and Ervin Johnson were held to a combined two points.

George Lynch, shooting 2 for 12, managed to contain the Bucks' Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, who could manage only a puppylike 4-of-16 effort for 11 points.

Both Aaron McKie and Hughes weren't too shabby themselves, limiting guard Ray Allen to 23 points on 9-for-25 shooting. But even they were pushed to sidebar status.

Last night belonged to Snow.

Maligned for his lack of shooting skills for most of this season, Snow responded in stellar fashion - and to instructions from assistant coach John Calipari to be more aggressive. He scored nine points in the game's final 7 minutes, 21 seconds.

Whether it was easier for him to do so against the Bucks doesn't require much education: Snow played for Milwaukee coach George Karl for two seasons in Seattle, so he knew exactly what to expect.

"I guess you can say I knew what to do against him, what would be available for me," Snow said.

"He definitely did," McKie added. "That's what he was telling us before the game: who [Karl] would attack, what would be available to us, things like that."

With 1:05 remaining and the Sixers up by 80-75, Milwaukee point guard Sam Cassell (16 points on 8-for-17 shooting) was going to try to make plenty available to himself.

A deadly scorer come crunch time, he repeatedly tried to attack but was stopped by Snow.

"You have no idea the kind of defense Eric played on him," Brown said. "Eric was just phenomenal."

Snow forced Cassell into directions he didn't want to go, ill-advised shots he didn't want to take, and a couple of missed layups.

When it was over, the Sixers - playing without injured Allen Iverson (thumb), Matt Geiger (knee) and Theo Ratliff (ankle) - still managed to escape with a road victory over a team vying for the top spot in the Central Division.

"You have no idea how big this win was for us," Hill said. "We needed this one so bad. With all the injuries and everything else, we're just trying to hold on and stay competitive until our big guys come back."

At the moment, they are doing better than holding on. They're winning.